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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Peking Tom Perspectives: Seminar in Honor of Richard Baum

As a leading scholar on China public policy and a professor of
public policy at UCLA, Richard Baum was author of over 50 scholarly
studies, as well as author of five books and co-author or editor of
five additional books. "He was one of the most important and
influential China scholars of his generation," said longtime
colleague Clayton Dube, executive director of the University of
Southern California's U.S.–China Institute. "Whenever anything
important happened in China, people were anxious to know what Rick
thought about it. His opinion was greatly valued" (as quoted in
UCLA Newsroom). Baum also launched Chinapol, one of the world's
largest and most influential internet community convening China
experts, journalists, and policymakers. Nearly 20 years later, the
Listserv group has expanded to 1,300 members. According to James
Fallows of The Atlantic (as quoted in the New York Times), “Rick
Baum allowed people from a wide variety of interests to share news,
impressions, and questions about China, in a way that left nearly
all of them better informed.” Baum also served as an advisor to
leading politicians -- including President George H.W. Bush and
2008 Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton -- and was a preeminent
expert on Mao Zedong, the economic policies of Deng Xiaoping, and
the era leading up to the Cultural Revolution. His 1996 book,
Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the Age of Deng Xiaoping is
"considered a definitive work on the transformation of China in the
decades immediately after the communist revolutionary leader's 1976
death" (LA Times obituary). Published in 2010, Baum’s China
Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom describes his own personal
history in China over the last 40 years starting in the 1960s. This
panel honors both his memory and his notable contributions to the
field of academic study on China. Introductory Remarks: Matthew
Baum, Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications and Professor
of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School Panelists: William Alford,
Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and Director
of East Asian Legal Studies Joseph Fewsmith, Professor of
International Relations and Political Science, Boston University
and Director, Center for the Study of Asia Tony Saich, Daewoo
Professor of Public Affairs and Director, Ash Center for Democratic
Governance and Innovation Moderator: William Kirby, T. M. Chang
Professor of China Studies, Harvard University; Spangler Family
Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School;
Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies; and Chairman
of the Harvard China Fund